Ink-ribbon annunciator for type-writing machines



( No Model.)

T. I. DANIEL. INK RIBBON ANNUNGIATOR FOR TYPE WRITING MACHINES. N0. 332,791.

Patented Dec. 22, 1885'.

tween the spools flat, smooth, and taut.

UNirnD TATES THOMAS I. DANIEL, OF JACKSON, MICHIGAN.

INK-RIBBON ANNUNCIATOR FOR TYPE-WRITING MACHINES.

sP- CIPICATION forming part'of-Letters Patent No. 332,791, dated December 22, 1885.

Application filed October 23, 1885. Serial No. 180,712. (No model.)

To all whom it 11mg concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS I. DANIEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at J ackson, in the county of Jackson and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Inking-Ribbon Annunciator for Type-\Vriting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to inking-ribbon annunciators for type-writing machines.

The object of my invention is to provide an attachment to type-writing machines which shall indicate to the operator when the inking-ribbon has reached the limit of its travel, and which shall keep the portion of the ribbon which extends under the platen be- I attain these objects by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical projection of a portion of a type-writing machine with my annunciator attached. Fig. 2 is a section on the line XX, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the bell-support and bell detached from the machine. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the hammer and the means of attaching it to the letter-space ratchet rocking frame. Fig. 5 is a vertical projection of one of the ribbon-spools and part of the bell-support and top plate. The front plate or guard of the spool is removed. Fig. 6 is a section on the line YY, Fig. 1, and showing the bellstem in full. Fig. 7 shows a variation in the construction of .my annunciators to adapt it to a type-writer having solid side plates.

Similar figures refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

1 is the top plate of a type -writing machine.

2 2 are the rear uprights or standards upon which the top plate rests.

3 is the hanger which supports the letterspace-ratchet rocking frame.

4 is a rocking bar resting in bearings in the hangers 3.

5 5 are arms extending from the rocking bar 4 a short distance toward the front of the machine.

6 is a horizontal cross-bar fastened to the arms 5 5.

7 7 are wires which connect the ends of the upper cross-bar, 6, with the ends of the lower cross-bar, which rests against the under side of the key-levers.

8 and 9 are the spools upon which the inking-ribbon is wound. The hangers supporting the inking-ribbons are not shown in Fig. 1.

10 is the inking-ribbon, and 11 and 12 are the shafts of the inking-ribbon spools.

The constituent parts of my inking-ribbon annunciator are the bent metal rods or ribbons 13 and 14, the slotted cross-pieces 15 and 16, the forked rods 17 18 and 19 20, the bell 21, and the hammer 22.

The metal rods or ribbons 13 and 14 are twisted, as shown at 23 and 24, so that the surfaces of the ends which join at the center shall be in a vertical plane. Said rods are adapted to be joined together at the center in a dowel-joint, and held together by the screw-threaded shank 25 and shoulder 26 on the bell-stem 29, Fig. 6, and are bent under and around to the top of the inking-ribbon spools in machines in which the top plate rests upon a frame-work or standards, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 5, and directly in and downward in machines in which the top plate rests upon solid side plates, as shown in Fig. 7. The curvature of the bends of the rods should be large enough to allow the bellsupporting frame to be raised and lowered Without striking the spools.

The cross-pieces 15 and 16 are fastened rigidly to the bent ends of the rods 13 and 14, and are slotted longitudinally by the slots 35, Fig. 3, to allow of the passage of the inking-ribbon. The slots 35 .35 are wide enough to allow of the free passage of a single thickness of ribbon, and are a little longer than the' distance between the guard-plates of the ribbon-spools, to allow the ribbon to be shifted, so that the type will strike on a new place on the ribbon. The cross-pieces 15 and 16 rest upon the edges of the guard-plates 28 36 37, &c., of the ribbon-spools. From each of the ends of the-cross-pieces 15 and 16 extend downward the forked rods 17 18 and 19 20. The forks of said rods are placed over the shafts of the ribbon-spools outside of the guard-plates, to prevent any movement (laterally with respect to the machine) of the bell-supporting frame 13 14 15 16, &o., and are bent in the arc of a circle having a radius equal to the distance apart of the ribrocking frame, and the heads of the screws,

pressing on the surface of the metal strip 31, hold the hammer in place.

In some machines there is only one screw corresponding to 33, in which case the slot corresponding to 32 is directlybelow the hammer-shaft.

The rods 13 and 14 should be of such a length and so bent as to hold, the bell 21 attaehed at theirjunction just below the hammer-head when it is in its lowest position.

The method of adjusting the bell-support and bell to a typewriter is as follows: One end of the inking-ribbon is passed through the slot in the top plate of the machine, then V through the slot in one of the cross-pieces 15 or 16. then attached to the short piece of flexible ribbon 27, which is usually left attached to the shaft of the ribbon -spool for that purpose. The two ribbons are gathered in folds, as shown at 34 in Fig. 5, at theirjunction; or, if the inking ribbon is attached directly to the shaft of the ribbon -spool, it should be gathered in folds similar to those shown in Fig. 5 at 34, about three or four inches from itsjunction with the ribbonspool shaft. The

forked rods 17 and 18 or 19 and 20 are then placed over the shaft of the spool, and the cross-piece 15 or 16 is rested on the edges of the guard'plates of thespool. The other portion of the bell-supportis adjusted in a similar manner to the other ribbon-spool, and the ends of the two rods 13 and 14 are passed between the wires connecting the type with the keys and joined in the center. The. bell 21 is then screwed to the rods 13 and 14 at their junction, holding them firmly together, as described.

The operation of the annunciatonis as follows: V/hen any key of the machineis struck, the letter-space-ratehet rocking frame is made to oscillate, and the hammer attached thereto is vibrated by its motion a short distance. (Indicated by the dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2.) When both of the cross-bars 15 and 16 are resting upon the edges of the guard-plates of the ribbon-spools, the bell 21 is a very little below the extreme limit of vibration of the hammerhead. The action of the machine draws the inking-ribbon along, which passes freely through the slots 35 35 till the place where it is gathered in folds comes to the slot The end of the inking-ribbon is.

in the cross-piece 15 or 16 on the side of the machine where the ribbon is being unwound. The folds in the ribbon near where it is fast ened to the ribbonspool being too thick to pass through the slot, as the machine continues to draw the ribbon along the end of the bell-support will be raised, as shown by the dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2, bringing the bell up to where it will be struck by the hammer. Thus the fact that the ribbon has reached the limit of its travel will be announced to the operator.

The friction of the cross-bars 15 and 16 on the edges of the guard-plates of the ribbonspools will act as a tension and prevent the ribbon-spools from turning backward, and the slots 35 35 will prevent the ribbons from turning up at the edges. Thus the ribbon will be held smooth and taut between the spools under the platen.

Having fully described my inventiomwhat I claim, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. In a type-writing machine, the combination of a bell-hammer attached to the letterspace-ratchet rocking frame, and a frame sup porting a bell and extending transversely across the center of the typewriting machine, and holding the bell just below the field of vibration of the hammer-head, and adapted to be raised at one end by an increased thickness or bunch on the inking-ribbon, to bring the bell in position to be struck by the hammerhead, substantially as shown and described.

2. A device for attaching a bell-hammer to the letter space ratchet rocking frame of a type-writer, consisting of the metal strip 31, attached across the end of the hammer-shaft, and provided with the slots 32 32, adapted to fit over theshanks of the screws which attach the cross-bar to the arms of the rocking bar of the letter-space-ratchet rocking frame, substantially as shown and described.

3. A bell-supporting frame consisting of the ribbons orrods ofmetal13, and 14, bent around and over the inking-ribbon spools of a typewriter, and twisted so as to bring the ends that are to be fastened together in a vertical plane, and adapted to be fastened together in a doweljoint held together by a screw-threaded shank, 25, and shoulder 26 on the bell-stem 29, the cr0ss-pieces 15 and 16 having the slots 35 35, and being fastened rigidly to the bent ends of the metal ribbons 13 and 1 1, and the forked rods 17 18 and 19 20, each pair being bent in the arc of a circle having a radius equal to the distance apart of the shafts of the inking-ribbon spools, substantially as shown and de scribed.

THOMAS I. DANIEL.

Witnesses:

bro. 0. S UIERs, J as. M. WHALLEN. 

